Charmaine Wheatley - Projects

Photo credit: Andrew Ben Witkin

Charmaine Wheatley is a performance artist who creates stories by drawing and watercoloring, often housing her collected drawings in pocket-sized metal boxes. She has published three books: Beau Fleuve: The Heart of North America (2006), 30% of Buffalo (2009), and Brett's Ball (2014). Brett’s Ball is a full color 48-page comic with rubber-stamped details celebrates Canadian abundance while making visual the importance of "downtime" in the workplace. In addition, her drawings have appeared in publications such as Border Crossings, FUKT, and C Magazine. Later in September of 2015, check out the gift shop at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to buy Wheatley’s latest signed and numbered artist book titled “Souvenirs” made with and published by the museum.

Wheatley performed What Is The Role Of Women? which involved a large taxidermied sculpture, many costumed participants and printed matter in St. John’s, Newfoundland through Eastern Edge Gallery, August (2014). At the Mills Gallery, Boston (2012) she performed and exhibited “moonpies”. Her exhibition history includes Buffalo Arts Studio Galleries I & II, Buffalo, New York (2009); HQ Gallery, Brooklyn (2007); the Carnegie Art Center in Buffalo (2006); AKA Gallery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (2005); Gallery 111, Winnipeg, Manitoba (2001); drivedrive.com, Amsterdam (2000); and Halifax, Nova Scotia (1997).

Between 2002 and 2005, Wheatley collaborated with DJ/sound artist, Taketo Shimada on performance based “Charmaine” projects. A song written and composed by Erno Rapee and Lew Pollack in the 1920’s. The work involved printed matter, sound, and functional sculptures, and was presented in Toronto and in New York at the Whitebox Gallery, SubTONIC, the Emily Harvey Gallery, 725 Washington Street, the Knitting Factory, and at New York University.

Since graduating from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1995, Charmaine Wheatley has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, Arts Newfoundland Labrador and has been an artist in residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA. (2012); Pace University, New York (2010); the Seven Below Arts Initiative, Vermont (2008); and Confederation Centre for the Arts/Parks Canada on Prince Edward Island (2007). Her work is held in international and library collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Since June 2012, Wheatley has based her practice of performance, sculpture, painting, drawing and writing in Newfoundland, Canada, a shift made possible from a generous award from the Canada Council for the Arts.